Your point information

[katybug34]

Just curious as to your DVC point journeys and why you made the journey that you did.

1 - How many points do you have?
2 - Why this number? (how large a family, how many vacations per year,...)
3 - How many times have you added on?
4 - How many points do you eventually want?


We have just been trying to work through what our ideal number of points is going to end up being.

 

[joandegennaro]

I too am interested in how others have done this.

Here are my specifics:

Family of 4, DW-42, DH-44, DD-17, DD-12
Want to be able to travel for 1 week during Spring Break (current points for OKW at this time 108) when important to accomodate school schedule for DD's, Prefered time to travel is October for 2 weeks. (12 day stay in Disney plus travel time there and back is 128 points)

Initial purchase this past March of 100 points (purchased though line of credit)
Add-on purchased in May of 25 points one month after inital purchase completely paid off.

Recived '09 points with each purchase giving us 250 points to use in 2010.

Planning on using 122 point for an 8 day stay with 3 points most likely expiring before we are able to use them (can't give them away as they are banked points) This will allow us to bank 125 into 2011 for our 12 night stay in October which will again give us 250 to work with for the 2011 UY.

We plan on using Studio accomodations at OKW while traveling with the girls but are open to trying other resorts if available at the 7 month mark. Don't see the need for a 1 Bedroom at this time with the limited amount of points we have each year. Once we finally reach retirement our plan is to add more points..DH thinks 200 to 250 total and I think we will appreciate the 1 Bedroom in our retirement so I am thinking in the 400 to 500 points, but that won't be for about 9 years.

Right now the 125 works for what we plan to do for the next 5 years.

 

[mopee3]

We try for 2 trips a year and use a 1 or 2 bdrm. I think it becomes more about how much are you willling to pay in MF each month. The intial buy in, while a big chunk of money all at once, won't cost as much as the MF over the long haul.
My bride and I have not gone on any trips with less than 4 people and as many as 6.

Once we looked at the difference between 1 bdrm and studio we never gave the studio a second look. We now have 600+ and plan on using them for Grande Villia trips with 12-20, cruses, and Adventures by Disney. Seems like alot of points but boy do they go fast. Added on twice.

My bride thinks we have enough, but can you really have enough of a good thing?? Well maybe.

Luck with your decision.

Moe

 

[mousefan1972]

Just curious as to your DVC point journeys and why you made the journey that you did.

1 - How many points do you have?
2 - Why this number? (how large a family, how many vacations per year,...)
3 - How many times have you added on?
4 - How many points do you eventually want?


We have just been trying to work through what our ideal number of points is going to end up being.

1. 450, all at Bay Lake Tower.
2. We are a family of 4, and while we can stay in a studio, we prefer a 1 BR. We travel to WDW 3-4 times a year.
3. None; we just joined in April.
4. We have no plans to buy anymore, but in the future, who knows??

 

[cvjw]

1. 545 points, split between BCV,VWL, and OKW. We are currently waiting for ROFR for 150 SSR points. We will have 695 total, if we are able to buy this resale contract.
2. We want to travel to Disney for 2 weeks in May/June, and a week + in September for fall break. We are a family of 4, but like to invite others. We don't stay in studios (too small and we are too spoiled), so we need lots of points for 1 and 2 bedroom villas.
3. We bought our first 3 contracts within 2 weeks of each other (resale), then waited a year to add the 4th contract.
4. I think we will have enough points for our family. I would love to have an even 700, but since I would have to buy 25 from Disney, I think we are done.

 

[rsschneck]

1 - How many points do you have? We now have 645 points at three resorts (OKW, SSR and Aulani)
2 - Why this number? 300 @ OKW was our original contract the points are lowest, biggest rooms and we have enough points for a Grand Villa if we want 220 @ SSR (2 contracts) we originally bought 120 and added on another 100 after our first stay because this is our favorite resort with the proximity to DTD and we use this mostly for 1 bedroom's for our family of three 125 @ Aulani so we can get a 1 bedroom for our family every 3rd year in choice season (how large a family, how many vacations per year,...)We are a family of three and we vacation @ least 3 times per year using our points
3 - How many times have you added on? We have added on 3 times
4 - How many points do you eventually want? I think we would have been fine with our 520 but the Hawaii resort really got us and we average a trip to Hawaii about every three years so this should be the end of our point addonitis
I want to add that we usually go during high point season "Spring Break, Christmas and Summer" Our daughter is in the 8th grade so when she is graduated our preferred time to go is October, early December and March or May. We usually stay in a 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom when we invite guests but have stayed in all 4 accommodation types

 

[ToddyLu]

Our family DH (46), me (41)....MIL (67), My Dad (72), My Mom (66)..They are our usual travel buddies.

1. 210 points at AKV, Dec UY...purchased June 2009
2. We were going to do 200 and saw that an extra 10 didn't cost but a couple dollars more a month in MF. We do not have children and are fine staying in studios. We also have enough points to get the "buddies" there own studio for 7 days.
3. Haven't added on yet, but hope to add on 25 soon to get the 2009 points so we can have some extra points next year.
4. I think 300 would be good for us to get 2 studios once a year with a small studio trip thrown in another time each year. DH always wants to stay SV and usually 9-10 nights...we are still paying forward our 2008 points we got with the original purchase but they will be gone in the Spring with that trip....so hence I see an add on coming to maintain our "DVC Lifestyle"

 

[southtexasmom]

1 - How many points do you have?

We have 200 pts at SSR

2 - Why this number? (how large a family, how many vacations per year,...)

We are a family of 6, we stay on property, during the week for 5 nights in a 2 bedroom once a year

3 - How many times have you added on?

We haven't added on yet

4 - How many points do you eventually want?

Eventually we would like to have 250 pts

 

[bwvBound]

1 - How many points do you have?
2 - Why this number? (how large a family, how many vacations per year,...)
3 - How many times have you added on?
4 - How many points do you eventually want?

1. 335 DVC -- but also own other timeshare. The other timeshare get plenty of exercise for non-DVC travel and are sometimes called upon to exchange back into DVC through RCI/II.

2. Just two of us. Our original DVC plan relates to a work-related conference: 7 nights, 1BR, BWV in January ≈ 200 points. We've covered that requirement since 2004 and more recently added recreational use (vacations). The recreational use is a bit haphazard: a holiday weekend at the Grand California Hotel (pre-villa), a Treehouse last Dec, a Grand Villa for this Oct F&W. While the conference is a "must do" -- our vacation use is simply opportunistic: we wouldn't have gone if it weren't for having either the points or an exchange.

3. Initial purchase (150 pts) plus two add-ons (25, 160). The 2nd add-on included triple points which seriously changed our usage patterns. We are still living in the wake of those extra points!

4. Don't know ... I have no specific plans at the moment. So far we are still banking points every year -- but this could change quickly depending on our continued success trading in for the January visit, frequency of using points at GCV or Aulani, etc.

 

[Petraman]

Just curious as to your DVC point journeys and why you made the journey that you did.

1 - How many points do you have?
We signed contract for 150 but before it closed we bumped it up to 200

2 - Why this number? (how large a family, how many vacations per year,...)
Family of 4 (DD, DW, DD11, DD15) We do a Disney trip of some kind each year. The honest truth is we bought this amount based on our meeting with our DVC sales agent. He asked how we normally vacation and we told him that because of my work, we would stay almost exclusively Sun-Thur (or maybe Fri). We usually go in the spring, so we looked at point demands and he recommended a min of 150. We bumped it to give us more flexibility

3 - How many times have you added on?
Here is where our dilemna is right now. We wanted to add on a couple years ago, when suddenly they started reallocating the points so that people who came weekends got better deal and people who came weekdays got punished. The same ressie I could have gotten in 2009 for 200pts will cost me around 250 in 2011.... and the fact is they can keep raising it as long as the overall point usage doesn't change. So our dilemna is when will this new approach end .. or will it? How many points will be enough for us to vacation? About the only good news is they have it now so that weekdays and weekends are almost identical (about a 9-10% difff) so they can't punish me too much more. Unless of course, they figure a way to make weekdays higher than weekends
We hope this settles down this next year and we will addon in 2011/2012
4 - How many points do you eventually want?
Honestly, we were told we had all we would ever need, but clearly that didn't work out. We only want maybe another 100 points max (total of 250-300)

We have just been trying to work through what our ideal number of points is going to end up being.

Best way to figure ideal points is look at these criteria

1)Where do you "prefer" to stay (look at nicer resorts rather than lower ones)
2)When do you normally vacation and when would you like to?
3) How many total days a year do you envision going to Disney?
4) Look up points charts and total "weekend" points needed to stay the # of days you want and when you want to go.
5) If this is well within your expense comfort zone, then maybe bump points higher (you can always rent out any unused points and more than cover your annual dues)

IMO it's better to have a few too many than not enough

Good luck and enjoy... we certainly have enjoyed our DVC experience

 

[DisneySJB]

1 - How many points do you have?
160

2 - Why this number? (how large a family, how many vacations per year,...)
This was the least number of points we could buy. Family of 3; DH-41, DD-8 and me-35. We have been able to take 1 week long trip and 1 weekend trip per year. This year, we splurged on 8 nights so no weekend trips for us. We mostly stay in stuios, but splurged on 1BR a couple times.

3 - How many times have you added on?
None. We just bought in 2008.

4 - How many points do you eventually want?
Not sure. Thinking about adding on in Hawaii. Or, perhaps just skipping WDW every 2 years to vacation elsewhere. (gasp!)

 

[Sandisw]

Just curious as to your DVC point journeys and why you made the journey that you did.

1 - How many points do you have? We currently have 180.
2 - Why this number? (how large a family, how many vacations per year,...) We are a family of 5, but two of my three children are now college age so we are done to three for most trips. It is a good starting point.
3 - How many times have you added on? Just once but hope to add more in the next few years.
4 - How many points do you eventually want? I would love to end up with 300.

We have just been trying to work through what our ideal number of points is going to end up being.

We just bought last year but hope to end up with 300 within the next 5 years so that we have enough for us to visit with our children and eventually, grandchildren.

 

[cbnsoul]

We have 100 points at BLT that we plan to use for October Break trips once the little one is actually in school! For now we are using the points for a week this fall and before a cruise next year. We have not yet added on as we just closed about a month ago but BOY, am I tempted (already!) I would eventually like 200-250 points and have to decide if we want to buy another resort or stick with only BLT - guess it depends if Disney decides to build another new resort.

 

[DebbieB]

Just curious as to your DVC point journeys and why you made the journey that you did.

1 - How many points do you have?
2 - Why this number? (how large a family, how many vacations per year,...)
3 - How many times have you added on?
4 - How many points do you eventually want?


We have just been trying to work through what our ideal number of points is going to end up being.

1. I have 250 points at BWV
2. I originally planned to stay 5 or 6 nights at OKW in May and 5 or 6 nights at BWV in early December in a 1 bedroom. 250 points was enough for 5 nights at one and 6 at the other. 300 would have covered both for 6 nights but the cost went over my budget. I originally planned to travel with my mom but she passed away in 2005. So now my vacations are different, I go solo or bring a friend along. Sometimes I go over my points for the year and have to borrow, other times I don't and bank. Last year I borrowed so this year I only have 1 trip, 6 nights at the end of October and will bank 50. Next year I hope to stay at VGC in May and BWV in December.
3. Never
4. I'm happy

 

[walkdmc]

1. Will have 310 points any day now . Still waiting on Disney's ROFR for a BLT 100 pt. contract. We currently have 210 points, all BLT.
310 is the answer for #4, can't imagine we'll use more.

2. Ideally, we'll vacation once a year, during a peak season (Summer) in a 1-2 BR at BLT. We're a family of 4 but have a habit of inviting folks along to join us on our trips.

3. We will have added on a total of 2 times, plus the original contract of 160 points.

 

[musical2]

1 - How many points do you have?
260 OKW

2 - Why this number? (how large a family, how many vacations per year,...)
We go every other year for about 12 nights in the summer. We have 5 in our family so we get two bedroom units. We have two other Marriott timeshares for other vacations.

3 - How many times have you added on? Added on twice from small resales to get to 260. Original was also resale.

4 - How many points do you eventually want? I have enough for us for right now to get Disney vacations every other year. We like doing other things on the "off" year.

 

[disneynutz]

1 - How many points do you have?
1400

2 - Why this number? (how large a family, how many vacations per year)
3 adults, 1 or 2 bedrooms, 3 or 4 times per year.

3 - How many times have you added on?
Several times, we have 26 contracts.

4 - How many points do you eventually want?
1400 is fine. If Disney/DVC doesn't change their direction, we will have less.

Bill

 

[staceymay00]

1 - How many points do you have?

150 OKW pts purchased through resale this past April

2 - Why this number? (how large a family, how many vacations per year,...)

We are a family of five (3 kids) and I think we'll continue to visit WDW once per year for about a week. We want to stay in villas - we have to with 3 kids, but even with 2 kids we'd be looking to stay in villas with a kitchen, washer/dryer and more space.

3 - How many times have you added on?

None yet, but possibly in the future to give us a week in a 2BR at OKW every year. Right now we have enough pts for 5-7 nights every year in a 1BR at the times we travel, or about a week in a 2BR every other year. We wanted to start with a smaller (less $$$) contract to make sure DVC is a good fit for us.

4 - How many points do you eventually want?

250-300 pts

 

[extremesoccermom]

1 - How many points do you have? 175

2 - Why this number? (how large a family, how many vacations per year,...)
I refuse to go into debt for anything other than our main home. We started with a 50 point resale at SSR paying cash (at the time it was the newest resale and we wanted the longer date), 2 months later we added 25 points at AKV (our favorite resort) again paying cash. When the deal came out last year for the BLT 100 point add on with free cruise we added on there for location. We paid half in cash and did finance the rest with the 6 month payoff.

3 - How many times have you added on?
2 so far.

4 - How many points do you eventually want?
Not sure but I am currently looking to add on 100 more at AKV. DD and I like to do mother daughter trips and are OK with a studio. Then DH, me and DD prefer a 1br for another trip. Sometimes DS20 will join us along with friends so we like the 2br for those trips. Our style is evolving all the time as we get older. We spent many years wanting to try every resort but we now prefer the deluxe resorts and an easier pace.
I think we will be set for a while at least until we start having grandchildren. Then we will probably want more points for more family room.

 

[TifffanyD]

Just curious as to your DVC point journeys and why you made the journey that you did.

1 - How many points do you have?
2 - Why this number? (how large a family, how many vacations per year,...)
3 - How many times have you added on?
4 - How many points do you eventually want?


We have just been trying to work through what our ideal number of points is going to end up being.

We have 100 points - all at BWV.
We were living up north at the time and plus I wanted to pay cash
Have not added on at all yet.
Maybe 200 - that seems more than plenty for us as we live close and do like to do other things as well